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I started a new 12 gallon planted tank with onyx plant sand. My plants arrived in the mail (chilled, but I thought salvageable) and I carefully put them in lukewarm water for a while before adding them into the warmer temperature of my tank.

The beautiful anubias coffeefolia was a beautiful specimen... and rotted away within a week. The banana plant (which I didn't have much hope for in the first place, as it didn't look great when it arrived) melt and rotted away as well. Dwarf sag made a mess of the tank as it also melted and dwindled to nothingness.

The crypt balansae seem to be doing okay, as well as the glosso (or, I think the glosso's okay... the fish have pulled it all up and I need to replant it). A dwarf lily bulb I pulled from my 20 gallon looks great and is doing better in this tank than in the twenty.

What on EARTH is going on here? Was it simply because the plants were too chilled on their trip from Florida to Chicagoland? The anubias was simply gorgeous... I wedged it into a nook in the piece of driftwood I have in the tank and it just melted away.

I also got wisteria in the same order (it went into the 20 gallon) which is doing beautifully. I don't understand why some plants are doing so well and some are just dying.

The tank is approximately 20"x10"x14" and has a normal flourescent bulb over it. I could understand if high light plants would die out on me, but the anubias? I don't get that one. *shrugs helplessly* I even added ferts because this is a brand new tank. I just don't know about this... the tank looks bare now that half the plants are gone.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

It sounds like a good chill is not the best thing for plants. There are some great lfs in the Chicago area that have plants, have you looked for specimen plants at those sites?

I live in Kalamazoo and travel frequently to Chicago and Milwaukee. I always make it a habit to lurk the stores for specimens. Hoffer's Tropic Life and Aquatics Unlimited in Milwaukee will often have a good selection of plants.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

The only fish store in my general area that I trust has, unfortunately, rather high prices. The Petsmart near me actually has a decent plant selection, but I'm sure I'd find snails attached. I'll have to search out new stores... Either that or wait until it actually warms up around here!

Actually... my sister is at school in Milwaukee... sounds like a good excuse to take a trip.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

where abouts in chicagoland? the petsmart by me does heve high prices, specially the plants. even so tjey do have the healthiest plants around, all the other lfs have bad, off colored fungus lookin stuff.

I'm in the northwest suburbs. I believe the Petsmart I'm talking about is in Arlington Heights (Arlington Heights Rd and Rand). My fav LFS is in Park Ridge (Devon and Cumberland). See [link=http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/55292.html?03101007]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/55292.html?03101007" style="COLOR: #C0C0FF[/link] for the plants I just got at Petsmart.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Like Bob said, rapid changes in temp does something nasty to most plants-though I'm not sure about the anubias and sag subulata. As long as you've got that rhizome, it should grow back in a few weeks. Coff/nesea grows a bit large for a 12 gallon. Though it will fit, it tends to dominate the aquascape--not good for a glosso tank. I've personally found glosso and wisteria to weather cold temps quite nicely. In fact, my glosso cutting growout tank, so to speak, is unheated, and is at an average 60 some degrees. I merely take the shoots I need, and transplant them to my ten gallon (85+ degrees). Careful, though--constantly being stirred results in brown, wilting glosso. Adding ferts this early on is just begging for algae.

Unfortunately, the rhizome was a nasty mushy mess. I tossed out the whole thing. Sigh.

I think there's a single dwarf sag shoot plant left (out of ten). All in all, I'm not devastated, just peeved. I figure I only lost maybe six bucks worth of plants (yay for cheap websites), but still... not happy with things. That anubias was SUCH a pretty specimen.

I only added ferts one day, give things a bit of a boost, I thought. Considering all the fish in there are algae grazers (guppies, danios, barb), I'm not terribly worried about algae. Haven't seen any yet, though.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~